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The Verint offices in Herzliya, Israel on July 28, 2016. Dan Balilty, AP

Verint shares nosedive after disappointing third-quarter results

Shares of Verint, a U.S.-Israeli maker of software for analyzing intercepted communications, nosedived after it reported lower-than-expected profit for the third quarter and released a disappointing earnings outlook for the fiscal year. The company, which investors had expected to rebound after several weak quarters, said net profit after adjustments came out to $37 million, or 59 cents a share. That was not only down 255% from a year earlier but far below the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research of 71 cents. Revenue was also down from a year ago, by almost 9% to $258.9 million and below the average of $270.6 million analysts surveyed by Zacks expected. Verint said it expected full-year earnings to be $2.50 a share on revenues of $1.075 billion, lower than the $2.85 and $1.1 billion the company had been forecast to generate. Verint shares were down 9.8% to $34.55 late morning local time in New York. (Omri Zerachovitz)

Israel Chemicals says it is giving up on $60 milion tax appeal, will take charge

Israel Chemicals said on Thursday it had withdrawn the appeal filed on February 2015 against a tax assessment of 228 million shekels ($59.7 million), including interest and linkage and as a result would take a charge of about $34 million in the fourth quarter. The company had appealed part of the $235 million in liabilities that the Israel Tax Authority said it was owed for the years 2009-11, above and beyond what the company had already paid for those years. The government contended that ICL subsidiaries, like Dead Sea Works and Rotem Amfert, were not entitled to the tax breaks the company took under the 2005 Law for the Encouraging Capital Investment. ICL had already set aside funds in 2015 against a possible future payment but not the full amount, on the grounds that its appeal against the assessment stood a good chance of succeeding. Shares of ICL, which did not say why it decided to withdraw the appeal, finished up 1.3% at 15.90 shekels. (Yoram Gabison)

Mylan to cut up to 10% of global workforce

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Mylan, the U.S. drug maker traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, said late on Wednesday it would cut up to 10% of its global workforce, attributing the cutbacks to the need to consolidate after two years’ worth of acquisitions. “As part of the holistic, global integration of these acquisitions, the company is focused on how to best optimize and maximize all of its assets across the organization and across all geographies,” Mylan said. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said it was “developing the details” of the cutbacks, which would involve an estimated 3,500 people, and would share more information about cost savings and restructuring costs as the moves are finalized. The company faces a $465 million settlement to resolve charges that it underpaid government healthcare programs by misclassifying its EpiPen treatment and posted a third-quarter loss as a result. Mylan shares ended up 2.3% to 131.70 shekels ($34.51) in Tel Aviv. (TheMarker Staff)

Tel Aviv shares follow global markets higher

Tel Aviv shares rose on Thursday as Wall Street reached a new record and Europe’s leading index was at a three-month high. The blue chip TA-25 index ended the day up 0.3% at 1,445.54 points, while the TA-100 gained 0.4% to 1,264.30, on turnover of 1.54 billion shekels ($400 million). Teva Pharmaceuticals powered ahead to end 2.5% higher at 134.90 shekels, even though Oppenheimer lowered it to a Market Perform and cut its target price to $50 from $66. Kenon jumped 4.75% to 39.89 after Psagot valued the holding company’s shares at 55 shekels. Ratio led TA-100 shares higher on a 4.8% advance to 33 agorot, capping a rise of 32% in 11 trading sessions. Running against the grain, biomed shares were down, led by a 3.3% drop to 40.94 for Opko Health and a 9.4% decline to 1.13 for Protalix. Perrigo lost 1.2% to 312.90 after it said it planned to restructure its troubled Omega Pharma Belgium business. (Omri Zerachovitz)

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